NICOLA Sturgeon has insisted she has “nothing to fear” from releasing legal advice about the Alex Salmond affair despite her government repeatedly refusing to disclose it.
The First Minister also claimed her leadership had not been damaged “in any way” by her Government’s response to the Holyrood inquiry into the Salmond affair.
The inquiry, which is looking at how the Government botched a sexual misconduct probe into the former first minister, has complained bitterly about obstruction and late, inadequte and missing evidence.
Mr Salmond had the probe overturned in a judicial review by showing it had been “tainted by apparent bias”, a Government flaw that left taxpayers with a £512,000 bill for his costs.
The inquiry has repeatedly asked to see the legal advice on which the Government mounted and maintained its doomed defence of the former first minister’s civil action.
However, despite Ms Sturgeon promising parliament in January 2019 that the inquiry could have “whatever material” it requested, her government has refused to hand it ove, despite numerous inquiry requests.
Seeing the advice would allow MSPs on the inquiry to see if the Government deviated to a perverse degree from its legal team in its bitter fight with Mr Salmond.
MSPs have now voted twice to demand the Government release the advice, but it has yet to do so, and may ultimately ignore the wishes of parliament.
Deputy First Minister John Swinney revealed last week that the Scottish Cabinet had discussed the matter once, but would need a second discussion before a decision.
Ms Sturgeon, who has recused herself from the cabinet decision, says it would be against the ministerial code to release the legal advice, which by convention is kept secret, unless ministers considered it was in the public interest and the law officers gave prior consent.
Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland on the third and final day of the SNP’s virtual conference, Ms Sturgeon was asked if her Government’s approach to the Salmond inquiry had damaged her leadership.
She said: “I don’t feel that in any way, but in a sense that’s for other people to judge. The Government is cooperating with the inquiry.”
Asked why she had promised Holyrood that the inquiry could have whatever it wanted, yet hadn’t mentioned any caveats about the ministerial code, she said: “Ok, well, the ministerial code was there then. Everything we do has to be within the context of the ministerial code.
“But we are reacting to those parliamentary votes by going through that process that the code sets out. When that concludes, the deputy First Minister will set it out.”
She refused to say if she personally wanted the legal made public, saying the cabinet would decide without her.
She said: “I will abide by whatever that process is.
“Look, I’ve got nothing to fear from everything being out there.
“But there is a point of principle here. The cabinet discussed this last week. I took myself out of that cabinet discussion, because I’m recused from these decisions.
“So it’s really important that I allow that process to take place.”
Tory MSP Murdo Fraser, who sits on the inquiry, said: “I was gobsmacked when I heard the First Minster make these comments as her claim simply doesn’t match up with reality.
“The SNP have thrown our entire parliamentary system into disrepute with their steadfast refusal to release the legal advice and so defying the will of the Scottish Parliament.
“The refusal to do what is required tells me there is something to hide with the whole charade looking more like a cover up each day.
“If the First Minister is so confident that the Government she leads will be vindicated I would urge her to do the right thing and release the legal advice with no time to lose.”
Mr Salmond's supporters claim he was the victim of a high-level plot to stop him making a political comeback and rivalling his successor.
Ms Sturgeon has dismissed the conspiracy theory as a "heap of nonsense".
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